Disharmony, dysfunction surrounding civic leaders has skyrocketed, and there is no end in sight.

Jun. 28, 2013

The exterior of Covington City Hall at 638 Madison Ave. / The Enquirer/Patrick Reddy

Written by

@avbnky

COVINGTON — On Dec. 7, 2012, the four incoming members of city commission, the new mayor and the top three city administrators all signed a pledge to work together amicably to advance the city’s best interests.

Within just a few months, however, that agreement was in tatters – along with the personal and professional relationships among some of those who had signed it.

A series of public and private battles have exposed major differences among the leaders of Northern Kentucky’s largest city, and hundreds of internal emails released last week indicate the damage might be too deep to repair.

“Originally I was hoping it was just merely a difference in priorities and tactics. But now, I’m afraid that’s not what it is at all,” said Commissioner Steve Frank, who often finds himself in the middle of two warring factions.

On one side are Commissioners Michelle Williams and Mildred Rains; on the other are Mayor Sherry Carran and Commissioner Chuck Eilerman. Most votes, even on mundane issues, come down 3-2, with Frank providing the swing vote. Williams and Rains are also publicly attacking city staff – mainly City Manager Larry Klein – in a way rarely seen.

A divided commission is nothing new, and Covington has a long and proud history of political dysfunction. But the rancor has reached new heights in recent months, and it seems only to be escalating.

At this point, it’s safe to say that the “unified commission” concept begun under previous mayor Chuck Scheper was a blip on the radar screen, and not the beginning of a new era in Covington politics that some hoped it would be.

First indication of conflict surfaced several months ago

Publicly, the first signs of fracture appeared at the March 12 city commission meeting when Carran and Williams sparred over an appointment to a vacant seat on the Housing Authority of Covington board.

Williams wanted Eastside activist Bennie Doggett, a campaign supporter, but Carran objected due to Doggett’s ties to related community groups. In a highly unusual move, Doggett and other supporters of Williams took to the podium at the meeting to personally attack Carran.

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Then there was the sanitation district issue.

At the May 7 meeting, Williams offered a surprise resolution to oppose proposed sewer rate hikes by Sanitation District No. 1 of Northern Kentucky. Several other local governments had passed similar measures. Williams had apparently presented the resolution to Klein that morning, but he said more vetting was needed before placing it on the agenda.

Williams brought it up for a vote anyway. It’s highly unusual to see a city or county government pass a piece of legislation offered on the spot with no prior discussion or vetting by city staff. Yet that’s what happened with the SD1 measure, over the ardent objections of Carran, Eilerman and Klein.

Just two weeks later, things came to a head when Williams and Klein had a heated verbal altercation at City Hall after Williams was not allowed to attend a staff meeting.

City officials called in an impartial third party, the Kentucky League of Cities, to try to smooth over some of the bumps, but in a sign of just how bad things have become, Williams and Rains refused to attend.

And then earlier this month, it was revealed that Williams has a misdemeanor criminal record that could make her ineligible to hold office. Her supporters are crying foul, saying it’s a smear campaign by her opponents within City Hall.

Is your head spinning yet? Because that’s a whole lot of dysfunction to keep track of.

Most officials will not open up about widespread tension

It’s hard to get at the root of the problem.

Political tensions are so inflamed that most city officials won’t discuss the situation publicly. The response I get most often is, “We’ve been advised not to talk about it.” (Williams hung up on me when I called her for comment.)

Privately, however, officials chalk it up to political and personal differences.

“In general, there’s just some bad chemistry and personalities. It shouldn’t come down to that, but sometimes that is what happens,” Frank said.

Emails also shed some light on the problems, which include a fundamental misunderstanding by Williams and Rains about how Covington’s government works.

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In Covington, the city manager has broad latitude over how the city is run. Think of it as a CEO/board of directors relationship: The city commission sets policy and provides general oversight, but the city manager essentially runs the company.

Since taking office, however, Williams and Rains have sought greater involvement in the day-to-day operations of the city and have sought to exercise greater authority over Klein, according to the emails.

That includes requesting weekly meetings with Klein, sending him lengthy requests for information about mundane issues such as basketball hoops, and seeking to attend staff meetings. It has become a major source of tension among commissioners and city staff, reaching the point where Klein has asked the city attorney to sit in on meetings with Williams and Rains.

The city commission did manage to pass a budget Tuesday night, in another 3-2 vote. Maybe some of the tensions will settle down with that milestone behind them. But it’s hard to see any long-term resolution to the political disharmony.

In the meantime, however, Klein has the backing of a majority of the city commission, and that majority is committed to seeing through the work begun under Scheper to turn Covington around. Regardless of the political problems in City Hall, Frank said it’s full steam ahead on that mission.

“There’s times when I don’t always agree with everything the mayor and city manager propose. But we are going to continue moving in the direction that Chuck Scheper was taking the city,” he said. “I’m not going to abandon that central prime directive. We are going to reinvest back in the city, and we are going to run it more like a business.” ⬛